The second annual HARD Day Of The Dead took place over two days this year and lived up to its reputation as the largest electronic music festival in the city of Los Angeles. The crowd flow was much better this year with expanded grounds, the HARD mainstage got a massive upgrade with side panel LED screens, and the lineup was completely gaw dropping. Check out my top 5 favorite sets from the amazing event below.

#5 Kavinsky

Rocking his red varsity sports jacket, shades, and glowing red eyes, Kavinsky’s performance was very nostalgic for me and took me back to 2007 with the SebastiAn remix of Testarossa. He earned a terrific encore at the end, and then finished with his biggest hit Nightfall, which was popularized by the 2011 film Drive.

#4 Boys Noize

Tech-electro badass Boys Noize connects very strongly with the crowd that comes to HARD events. He knows just what they want, and gives it to them with full force. His set was made even more intense by his enormous terminator skull stage and the demonic visuals of Baphomet on the giant LED screens behind him.

#3 Pretty Lights

As a huge fan of Pretty Lights, I could not pass him up even with Calvin Harris on mainstage. I was craving funky bass all the second day, and he delivered a heavy dose at the HARDER stage. His body language on stage expresses an extreme passion for the music he’s playing, which helps the crowd get into it more as well.

#2 Bloody Beetroots (LIVE)

No doubt about it, the Bloody Beetroots are the punk rock band of electronic music and I just can’t get enough of them. They were crazy wild on stage. Lead singer Cornelius rocked out with an electric guitar, later playing sentimental melodies on the piano.

#1 Eric Prydz

Eric Prydz blew me away both nights. His techno project Cirez D was the perfect closer for Saturday. He played some of his powerful new tracks like Thunderstuck, some adoring classics like Glow, and closed with On Off for an epic finale. His mainstage set on Sunday as Eric Prydz was also outstanding. The highlight for me was when he played his stellar remix of M83’s Midnight City.